Re: Whether the confidentiality
afforded to certain identifying
information by section 552.1175 of the
Government Code endures when a
county voter registrar transfers the
information to the Secretary of State
and other authorized recipients
(ORQ-62).

Dear Secretary Shea:

You ask several questions concerning the permissible disclosure of voter registration
information about a peace officer. You explain that a peace officer notified a county voter
registrar that the officer chooses to restrict public access to certain personal information. The
officer notified the registrar pursuant to a provision in the Public Information Act
(the "Act"), section 552.1175 of the Government Code.

(b) Information that relates to the home address, home telephone
number, or social security number of an individual to whom this
section applies, or that reveals whether the individual has family
members is confidential and may not be disclosed to the public under
this chapter if the individual to whom the information relates:

(1) chooses to restrict public access to the information; and

(2) notifies the governmental body of the individual's choice
on a form provided by the governmental body, accompanied
by evidence of the individual's status.

(c) A choice made under Subsection (b) remains valid until rescinded
in writing by the individual.

(d) This section does not apply to information in the tax appraisal
records of an appraisal district to which Section 25.025, Tax Code,
applies.

Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.1175 (Vernon Supp. 2003). Thus, covered individuals can
instruct a governmental body to safeguard from public disclosure four specific categories of
personal information: home address; home telephone number; social security number; and
information that reveals whether the individual has family members. Importantly, the
individual's choice is whether to restrict public access to the information.

You ask about the effect of section 552.1175 in light of an Election Code provision
that generally makes voter registration lists public. Under Texas law, the original
and supplemental lists of registered voters must contain the voter's name, residence
address, date of birth, and registration number. See Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 18.005(a)(1)
(Vernon Supp. 2003). As you note, a county's voter registration information is used in
several ways: (i) local election officials use the list to confirm a voter's residence address;
(ii) the Secretary of State uses county voter information to assemble and maintain a statewide
database of registered voters; and (iii) counties use voter registration information provided
by the Secretary of State to create its jury source file. You ask whether the confidentiality
afforded to certain personal information by section 552.1175 of the Government Code, in this
case involving a county voter registrar's list of registered voters, extends to ancillary uses of
the information, and also whether a covered person's request to local officials to safeguard
this information extends to records maintained at the state level. As a threshold matter, we
presume for purposes of this decision that the peace officer satisfies the criteria of
section 552.1175 of the Government Code.

The county voter registrar conducts voter registration activities, including approval
of voter registration applications and preparation of lists that identify registered voters for
use during elections. (1)See id. §§ 13.072, 18.001-.004 (Vernon 1986 & Supp. 2003). The
registrar is required to prepare a certified list of registered voters for each county election
precinct. See id. § 18.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2003). The registrar is also required to prepare
a supplemental list of registered voters, a registration correction list, and as an alternative to
furnishing a supplemental list and a correction list, a certified revised original list of
registered voters. See id. §§ 18.002-.004 (Vernon 1986 & Supp. 2003).

Section 18.008(a) of the Election Code states:

The registrar shall furnish a copy of any list prepared under this
subchapter to any person requesting it. The copy shall be furnished
without the names of voters whose names appear on a list with the
notation "S", or a similar notation, if requested in that form. (2)

Id. § 18.008(a) (Vernon Supp. 2003) (emphasis added). On the one hand, the Election Code
requires a county registrar to provide a voter registration list, which includes a voter's
residence address, to "any person requesting it," see id., while on the other hand, the
Government Code prohibits a county registrar from publicly releasing certain
information about an individual, including the individual's residence address, when the
individual has triggered section 552.1175. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.1175(b)
(Vernon Supp. 2003). Assuming the peace officer has registered to vote in the county, the
statutory provisions conflict. If two statutes are in irreconcilable conflict, we apply the rule
of statutory construction that "the statute latest in date of enactment prevails." Id.
§ 311.025(a) (Vernon 1998); see also City of Dallas v. Mitchell, 870 S.W.2d 21, 22-23
(Tex. 1994), Olson v. Central Power and Light Co., 803 S.W.2d 808, 811 (Tex.
App.-Corpus Christi 1991, writ denied). The Seventy-seventh Legislature enacted Senate
Bill 247, which added section 552.1175 of the Government Code, on May 2, 2001. See
Act of May 2, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch.119, § 3, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 236, 237-38.
Section 18.008(a) of the Election Code was enacted in 1985. See Act of May 13, 1985, 69th
Leg., R.S., ch. 211, § 1, 1985 Tex. Gen. Laws 802, 833. Because section 552.1175 is the
later enacted statute, it prevails. Consequently, if a county registrar receives a request for a
voter registration list, the list released to a member of the public under section 18.008 must
not include the residence address of a peace officer who has submitted a proper notification
under section 552.1175.

You also ask about access to lists of registered voters by election officials during an
election. Texas law states that on request of the authority responsible for procuring election
supplies for an election, the registrar must furnish to the authority a list of registered voters
as soon as practicable. Tex. Elec. Code Ann. §§ 18.001(b), 18.006 (Vernon Supp. 2003).
Various election officials must obtain a list of registered voters to determine whether
a voter can be accepted. See id. §§ 32.031 (Vernon 1986) (election clerk), 32.071
(Vernon Supp. 2003) (presiding judge), 83.031-.034 (deputy early voting clerk), 85.031
(early voting clerk); see also id. §§ 18.001(d), 83.001(b)-(c). The county registrar's delivery
of the list of registered voters in these circumstances is not, however, a release "to the
public" prohibited by section 552.1175. See also Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD Nos. 667 (2000), 661
(1999), 650 (1996).

You also note that the Secretary of State maintains a master file containing
registration information for each registered voter in the state. Tex. Elec. Code Ann.
§ 18.062(a) (Vernon Supp. 2003). By law, this statewide database must include each voter's
name, county of residence, county election precinct number, residence address or, if the
residence has no address, the address at which the voter receives mail, date of birth, and
registration number. Id. § 18.062(c). Each county registrar delivers voter registration
information to the Secretary of State. See id. § 18.063. Here, too, there is no conflict with
section 552.1175 of the Government Code insofar as the registrar's submission of this
information is not a public release.

The registrar of each county also furnishes to the Secretary of State a current list of
registered voters in the county for use in reconstituting the jury wheel. See Tex. Gov't
Code Ann. § 62.001 (Vernon Supp. 2003). This list must include, among other things, each
voter's mailing address, and if available, each voter's social security number. See id.
§ 62.001(c). The Secretary of State combines the registrars' lists with another list from the
Department of Public Safety, eliminates duplicate names, and sends the combined list to each
county for use as the jury wheel. See id. § 62.001(g). (3) Again, this purely interagency transfer
does not violate the prohibition in section 552.1175.

A recurring question in each of these interagency transfers is whether the peace
officer's information that is confidential under section 552.1175 in the possession of the
voter registrar remains confidential once transferred. We read section 552.1175 as applying
only to the specific governmental body that receives the peace officer's notification. The
statute states that the covered information is confidential "if the individual to whom the
information relates . . . notifies the governmental body of the individual's choice." Tex.
Gov't Code Ann. § 552.1175 (Vernon Supp. 2003). Thus, the notification imparts
confidentiality to information only in the possession of the notified governmental body. A
governmental body that has not received notification is not required to protect information
under section 552.1175. Thus, in the situation you describe, the peace officer's request for
confidentiality to the registrar does not extend to other governmental entities and authorized
officials to whom the registrar transfers the information. Consequently, until such time as
the Secretary of State, an election official, and the county receive from the peace officer a
proper notification in which the officer directs that particular entity to restrict public access
to the officer's information, section 552.1175 does not make the information confidential.

In the event that the Secretary receives a proper section 552.1175 notification, we
must also consider section 18.066(a) of the Election Code. This statute makes the master file
available to the public:

(a) The secretary of state shall furnish information in the state master
file to any person on request not later than the 15th day after the date
the request is received.

Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 18.066(a) (Vernon 1986). (4) Thus, section 18.066(a) requires the
Secretary of State to provide information in the state master file to "any person" requesting
it, while section 552.1175 of the Government Code prohibits the Secretary of State from
releasing to the public certain information about an individual including the individual's
residence address when the individual has invoked section 552.1175. As with the registrar's
public access statute, the confidentiality afforded by section 552.1175 is not defeated by
section 18.066(a) since section 552.1175 was enacted later. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann.
§ 311.025(a) (Vernon 1998) (articulating the "later enacted statute" rule); compare Act of
May 2, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 119, § 3, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 236, 237-38, with Act of
May 13, 1985, 69th Leg., R.S., ch. 211, § 1, sec. 18.066, 1985 Tex. Gen. Laws 802, 835.
Consequently, if the Secretary of State receives a request for a voter registration list, the
list released to a member of the public under section 18.066(a) must not include the
address of a peace officer who has submitted to the Secretary a proper notification under
section 552.1175.

SUMMARY

A county voter registrar must not publicly release a voter registration
list that includes information made confidential by section 552.1175 of the
Government Code. A registrar may transfer information that is confidential
under section 552.1175 to other governmental entities and authorized
recipients. Information in the possession of a registrar that is confidential
under section 552.1175 is not confidential when in the possession of
governmental entities and authorized recipients to whom the information
is transferred, such as election officials, the Secretary of State, and the
county, until those entities and authorized recipients receive a proper
section 552.1175 notification. The Secretary of State must not publicly
release a voter registration list that includes information made confidential by
section 552.1175 of the Government Code.

Very truly yours,

GREG ABBOTT
Attorney General of Texas

BARRY R. MCBEE
First Assistant Attorney General

DON R. WILLETT
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

KATHERINE MINTER CARY
Chief, Open Records Division

GREGORY T. SIMPSON
Deputy Chief, Open Records Division

Kay Hastings
Assistant Attorney General, Open Records Division

Footnotes

1. The county tax assessor-collector is the voter registrar for the county unless the position of county
elections administrator is created or the county clerk is designated as the voter registrar by the commissioners
court. See Tex. Elec. Code Ann. §§ 12.001, 12.031, 31.032, 31.043 (Vernon 1986 and Vernon Supp. 2003).

2. Section 15.111 of the Election Code requires a registrar to "enter the notation "S", or a similar
notation approved by the [S]ecretary of [S]tate, on the list of registered voters beside each voter's name that
also appears on the suspense list." Id. § 15.111 (Vernon Supp. 2003). The suspense list is maintained by the
registrar and contains the name of each voter who fails to submit to the registrar a confirmation of the voter's
current address or whose renewal certificate is returned to the registrar. See id. §§ 15.053(a), 15.081(a).

(b) Information furnished under this section may not include a voter's social
security number.

(c) The secretary shall furnish the information in the form and order in which it is
stored or if practicable in any other form or order requested.

(d) To receive information under this section, a person must submit an affidavit to
the secretary stating that the person will not use the information obtained in
connection with advertising or promoting commercial products or services.